The Apostle Islands are a chain of 22 small islands off the shore of Bayfield in northern Wisconsin. Most of them are now designated as national wilderness, and they provide almost unlimited opportunities to kayak, sail, explore, and just relax. Over the years the Apostles have become one of our favorite kayaking destinations. There are just so many neat places to paddle there that we'll just head up on a short weekend and make day trips out of them. When we have the time we love to head out to one of the islands, set up camp, and then spend a few days paddling around the area. Here are some photos of our most recent paddling trip to the Apostles. For more information about our kayaks, see our Folbot Greenland II or Folding Kayak Resources pages. For our other trips to Bayfield, see our Adventures in Bayfield page. |
Our Folbot Greenland II loaded on the Jeep and on it's way up to Bayfield, Wisconsin. It's one of our favorite destinations for kayaking, or just hanging out by the lake. |
Maggie, our kayak, ready to go paddling. We took the ferry over from Bayfield to Madeline Island and paddled from Big Bay State park to the other end of the bay and then back into the lagoon. |
Entering the lagoon. The foot bridge runs from the county park to the beach. |
The lagoon is the results of the formation of several barrier beaches across what once was a huge open bay. |
The bay has steep cliff on one end, and then a broad shallow area with lots of small islands. |
The islands form a maze of waterways that just invite hours of poking around. |
 Avast! There be turtles dead ahead, captain.The logs at the end of one cove were covered in painted turtles. |
They were just hanging out soaking up the last warm sun of summer. |
Their shells were beautiful - almost like they were carved from precious stones. |
 This guy wasn't shy at all and hung out watching us as we passed within inches of him. |
 Gelina catching a rest - the wind was so strong we were pretty much able to sail our way back out of the lagoon using just the rudder. |
 G soaking up the sun. On our way back we found a nice quiet spot on the beach for a snack and a nap. |
 Folbot offers a nice sail for their kayaks, complete with outriggers. We rigged Maggie up on the town beach and set sail for Madeline Island. |
We're under sail! |
Gelina paddling us towards the sea caves just east of Meyer's Beach near the Apostle Island National Lakeshore. |
The cliffs are made of the same rock that was mined to build Chicago's brownstones. |
Here the waves have left little arches and the beginning of sea caves. |
 This hole in the cliff went back 20 feet or so. |
It's amazing how these trees cling to these boulders. |
More sea-caves-to-be. |
The caves are open to Lake Superior and the waves have worn away some huge openings in the rock. |
In some paces there just isn't a whole lot of rock left. This pillar looks like it could go any time. |
The rock is mostly sandstone and in some places the colors are just amazing. |
 One of the many waterfalls that run down the cliffs. After a rain, they run for days. |
If the water is nice and calm you can paddle through a lot of openings like this. |
Same hole from the other side looking out onto Lake Superior. |
Oooooooh, spooky tunnel. |
One "leg" of a three-legged archway. |
Gelina taking a stretch. Got to love that Folbot stability. |
We paddled out to the end of Sea Gull bay and then used the downwind sail to sail back. Here we are racing the Madeline Island Ferry. |
Gelina loads a Necky Amaruk single-handedly. |
G at a waterfall that we paddled up to. |
 We passed it on the inside of this seamount, much to the dismay of the seagulls who were nesting there. |
The view from the back of the kayak of Sand Island. |
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Natural opening in the rock. |
We take the plunge into a cave. |
More sea caves, the outcropping in front isn't there anymore - big splash. |
Dave and the caves. Incoming waves cause the caves to burp and fart. Kind of like Dave. |
 Rounding the point at Sand Island. |
The beach in front of our favorite little island. |
 Dave takes a dip in Lake Superior. With the water temperature in the 50s, the wetsuit is not optional.
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 Here we are in front of the lighthouse on Sand Island.After touring the sea caves, we landed and Justice Bay and hiked to the lighthouse. |
The lighthouse on Raspberry Island. We paddled there from our camp site on York Island for a day trip. |